Work Related Stress, Absence and Motivation Statistics

Work-related stress, depression or anxiety is defined as a harmful reaction people have to undue pressures and demands placed on them at work.

The latest estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) show:

The total number of cases of work related stress, depression or anxiety was 440,000 cases.

The number of new cases was 234,000.

The total number of working days lost due to this condition was 9.9 million days.

Stress accounted for 35% of all work related ill health cases and 43% of all working days lost due to ill health.

By occupation, jobs that are common across public service industries (such as health; teaching; business, media and public service professionals) show higher levels of stress as compared to all jobs.

The main work factors cited by respondents as causing work related stress, depression or anxiety were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility and a lack of managerial support.